Selley: I think it’s safe to say that Norm Kelly’s preference to wake up Friday morning with another Liberal government at Queen’s Park is no surprise. Any mayor (or acting mayor) of Toronto should feel the same way, really, at least in a professional sense: The city needs as much consideration and money from the province as it can get, and notwithstanding the fact they deserve their asses handed to them and the very real possibility the Liberals might bankrupt the joint, they’re far and away the most likely party to pony up. But that just makes Kelly’s endorsement all the odder: He’s a card-carrying Liberal, for heaven’s sake. I don’t object to the idea of mayors endorsing candidates per se. Reasonable mayors and premiers shouldn’t let something like that poison future relationships. But in this case especially, it seems like an unnecessary provocation. What say you, gentlemen?

Gurney: I’m not sure it’s a provocation. I certainly didn’t feel provoked when I heard it, and was unsurprised for all the reasons Chris has already stated. I think I shared some of the sense of it being a bit of a “Duh” moment, as Kelly has always been a proud Liberal. Should Hudak win, his plan is pretty clearly something City Hall wouldn’t really enjoy. Even if he did build his east-west subway, which Toronto needs, I’m sure council would scream bloody murder as Premier Hudak tried to upload many TTC assets to the province. So no surprise the acting mayor prefers someone else, his own partisan interest notwithstanding. If anything rubbed me the wrong way, and even this was only a passing disgruntlement, it was the sense that an acting mayor is a caretaker, and should limit themselves to a very narrow set of duties accordingly. I know it’s a fine line. But perhaps an acting mayor should remain quiet where a mayor would have more standing?

Goldsbie: If the endorsement caught us off guard, it was because less than a week earlier he’d indicated that he wouldn’t be supporting anyone, which seemed a perfectly reasonable position to take for someone in his role. Kelly says he changed his mind when a resident asked him if his reluctance to wade into the provincial race meant that he didn’t care what would happen to Toronto. That’s a fair enough basis for adjusting his decision, though it surely couldn’t have hurt that the week’s polls were more favourable to the Liberals’ chances. It’s obviously not the endorsement Rob Ford would have made, but Kelly’s been afforded leeway to govern in what he thinks are the best interests of the city, and he’s enthusiastically grabbed on to those opportunities. If he’d endorsed the PCs, a party with the barest of urban agendas, that might present an issue. As it is, I’m kinda whatever.

Selley: I think this caretaker mayor in particular might have considered keeping quiet. The provocation is to Ford Nation: If Rob was around right now he’d be using the endorsement as further evidence he was usurped by a grand, remorseless liberal conspiracy. I doubt any harm was done. But the circus is coming back to town at some point, and we need to keep our eyes on the prize.

Gurney: Well, yeah, Ford would be doing that. But then guys like us would raise two important points, both awkward for the Mayor: Norm Kelly was Ford’s choice for deputy, so him being in charge right now is Ford’s doing (for all kinds of reasons); and, of course, as revealed by the Toronto Sun a few months ago, Ford probably wasn’t planning on endorsing Hudak. Ultimately, I guess I’m with J.G. here in that I’m a little bit whatever. I’d have rather him not said anything, but overall, Kelly has done a very credible job in really difficult circumstances these last few months. I remember realizing recently that, for all intents and purposes, Norm Kelly is the mayor of Toronto right now, and I felt genuine relief. I can cut him some slack here.

Goldsbie: Notwithstanding his drunken, homophobic disavowal of Hudak for supporting the “gay organization’s” efforts to raise a rainbow flag during the Olympics, I’m pretty sure Ford would have endorsed the PCs. (Likely to their chagrin.) But you know what’s awesome? It doesn’t matter now. The comfort Matt feels about Kelly being in charged is matched by my own relief that Ford has once again been reduced to the marginal entity he deserves to be. There is so little to be gained by pandering to the sliver of the population that still supports him.